Increase in number of middle aged people living alone

The number of middle-aged people living alone has soared by more than 50
percent since the mid-1990s, new figures show.

Photo: Alamy

By Rosa Silverman

6:30AM GMT 02 Nov 2012

Almost 2.5 million men and women aged between 45 and 64 have their own home and live in it with no spouse, partner or other family member.

The number of such sole occupants has risen by 833,000 in the past two decades, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

And the figure for men living alone has increased more than that for women, the data shows.

Of the 26.4 million households currently in the UK, 7.6 million - or 29% - are made up of only one person, with the growth in single occupant households owned by the middle aged creating extra demand for homes.

The number of people of all ages living alone has risen by more than a million over the past 16 years.

But some men who claim to live alone may be doing so for benefit purposes, it is thought, as women who are single parents are entitled to more financial support.

The ONS report suggests the growth in the number of 45 to 64-year-old’s living on their own could be partly explained by the growing number of middle aged people in general as the post-war baby boomer generation reaches their 50s and 60s.

But the report, whose fiigures were taken from a Labour Force Survey, added: “The increase in those living alone also coincides with a decrease in the percentage of those in this age group who are married – from 79 per cent in 1996 to 69 per cent in 2012 – and a rise in the percentage of those who have never married or are divorced, from 16 per cent in 1996 to 28 per cent in 2012.”

Family researcher Patricia Morgan warned of the financial implications for the state.

“The growth of numbers of people living alone is very expensive indeed, in terms of state benefits, the need for more development and health and social services care, because people who live alone are more likely to need the NHS or social services,” she told the Daily Mail.

“People think that it is cheaper if people don’t form families. It isn’t.”